Tue, August 18, 2026 at 7:43 PM UTC
DC learned the hard way that not every superhero (and shared universe) can receive the “Dark Knight” treatment, with Man of Steel leaving critics and fans divided. Lanterns arrived on the scene this past weekend with a darker approach to its
Ahead of Lanterns’ release, there was a lot of online chatter about how taking a darker, more serious approach to the Green Lantern mythos was a mistake. However, once the series actually premiered, those concerns vanished, with critics and fans positively reviewing the newest DC Universe entry.
Lanterns is exactly what the DCU needed after Supergirl
Within days, Lanterns has made everyone forget about the poor critical and commercial reception of its DCU predecessor, Supergirl. It’s a welcome change of pace for Green Lantern, who has spent the past 15 years being made fun of largely by Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds played the hero in his first major live-action outing: 2011’s galactic flop Green Lantern.
That film is a big reason why Lanterns works where Man of Steel failed. Man of Steel was taking a character built around hope, justice, and all that good stuff and making him unnecessarily dark and moody. For non-comic book readers, it was a shocking reinvention for Superman and one that didn’t quite land with most of the public.
Green Lantern, meanwhile, doesn’t have the big-screen (or live-action) history that Superman does. To be blunt: most of the general public only knows of Green Lantern from the 2011 film, which actually worked in Lanterns’ favor.
Lanterns could afford to go dark and not receive the type of backlash that Man of Steel did. It could be treated as a prestige HBO drama because there was no preconception of what a live-action Green Lantern show should be. Its only goal was to wash the bad taste of the 2011 film out of audiences’ mouths, and that’s exactly what it did.
Just as Jason Momoa got Aquaman to be seen as a serious hero instead of a punchline, Lanterns has re-legitimized the Green Lanterns in the eyes of the audience. The darker and serious tone fits the Green Lanterns. Cop <a href="https://comicvibe.com/10-shows-like-the-100-you-should-watch-next/” title=”10 Shows Like 'The 100' You Should Watch Next”>shows aren’t afraid to get dark and serious, so why shouldn’t that logic also apply to a show about space cops.
But here’s the kicker. DC going darker with Lanterns will not impact the rest of the DCU as it did with Man of Steel. The real issue with Man of Steel was that it set the tone for a good chunk of the DC Extended Universe, making every hero dark and serious whether it fit the character or not.
True to James Gunn’s promise, the DCU will be a melting pot of styles or tones. Dark and light, funny and serious, it can all exist. That’s what DC failed to recognize after Man of Steel. Audiences demand variety with their superhero projects, and after four very James Gunn-like projects, Lanterns is the dark breath of fresh air the DCU desperately needed.
But it cannot stop with Lanterns. DC needs to continue giving audiences this sort of variety. If it can, then the Marvel Cinematic Universe will finally have some real competition.
